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BUTTER (2022)
Director: Paul A. Kaufman Cast: Alex Kersting, McKaley Miller, Adain Bradley, Jack Griffo, Mira Sorvino, Brian Van Holt, Mykelti Williamson, Matthew Gold, Ravi Patel, Annabeth Gish MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:50 Release Date: 2/25/22 (limited) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | February 24, 2022 The premise of Butter sees an obese teenage boy declaring that he's going to eat himself to death on a live internet broadcast. He means it, too, as a way to prove to all of the people who have offered so many judgmental looks at, teased, and bullied him that they have gone too far. It's an obvious cry for help, and while basically the entire school hears what the teen has to say, nobody actually listens. There are a few ways this material, from the novel by Erin Jade Lange, could have been approached—as a dark comedy, as a serious examination of bullying and its consequences, as an empathetic study of what brings its main character to make such a decision and publicize both the choice and the act. Writer/director Paul A. Kaufman takes, perhaps, the least convincing and most questionable approach: turning the depression and despair of the protagonist into fodder for a light-hearted comedy about health and self-esteem issues, false popularity, unrequited romance, and, of course, suicide. The tone doesn't fit, but then again, not much else about this strangely cheery take on such severe issues comes across as believable or, for that matter, wise. The overweight boy is known as "Butter" (Alex Kersting), on account of an assault by a group of bullies who pinned him down and forced him to eat an entire stick of butter. That we don't learn the kid's real name until the story's epilogue might be an attempt to stay in line with the notion that people do judge on appearances and never really know what' happening in another person's private life. If Kaufman offered any real insight into those themes beyond lip service, one might be so charitable, but it just feels like a cheap, slightly de-humanizing gimmick for a final reveal. Anyway, Butter is smart, self-deprecating, and a talented saxophone player. He's also secretly in love with Anna (McKaley Miller), a girl from his writing class, and more secretly, by pretending to be a jock, her online romance. Butter thinks that, if she gets to know the "real" him online through their text conversations, he might have a chance of wooing her in real life. When Butter stands up for Anna to school bully Jeremy (Jake Austin Walker), the look of embarrassment on her face, as well as her online confirmation of those feelings about Butter, gets him to come up with his fatal plan. The twist is that, instead of pitying Butter or not even noticing the website he makes to announce to his plan, some schoolmates, namely popular kids Trent (Adain Bradley) and Parker (Jack Griffo), start to pay attention to him. Butter suspects they might be faking it, but the sudden popularity starts giving him some hope about his life. All of this gradually leads to a depiction of suicide and suicidal thoughts that feels exploitative at best (The back-and-forth question of whether or not Butter will go through with his plan, especially with all of the joviality surrounding that story element, is pretty tasteless). Beyond that, the final steps of the movie's climax and denouement come across as pretty irresponsible. A lot of that sense isn't simply in what happens (Everyone might say that Butter's plan is a mistake, including the teen himself, but let's just say the movie doesn't treat it as such in the bigger picture, considering how much the plan actually solves in or improves about his life). It's also in the fact that Kaufman's screenplay cares more about earning laughs from matters such as Butter's impromptu "bucket list," assorted side players (such as Ravi Patel's trying-too-hard doctor), and the eventual real-life friendship between our protagonist and his crush. Meanwhile, deeper issues, such as Butter's relationships with his enabling mother (played by Mira Sorvino) and emotionally distant father (played by Brian Van Holt), remain underdeveloped. The performances clearly suffer both from Kaufman's unpersuasive dialogue and from how the characters, especially Butter, seem to change on the whim of whatever the story needs from them at any given moment. It would be difficult to argue that the filmmakers' intentions aren't good, that they're not sympathetic to the main character, or that the movie's message isn't attempted from a sincere place. That's important to note, if only to point out that Butter isn't a purposefully thoughtless movie. It's just unintentionally but decidedly so. Copyright © 2022 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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(for mature thematic content involving suicide, crude
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